AC MILAN NEWS

KALAC : Thank You Fans!!

"After the match against Arsenal on tuesday night the fans were great, they applauded because they understood that unfortunately you can't always win and we appreciate their understanding. Now we must focus on the league to go forward and win the fourth place. We are all very disappointed to have exited such a prestigious competition, but now Milan have to find the energy necessary to continue. In these past few months we have suffered the fact that we've had so many matches close together, but now we have the chance to prepare every match carefully and earn many important points.
Perhaps if on tuesday we had scored in the first twenty minutes everything would have turned out different, unfortunately we didn't manage it and at the end Arsenal surprised us when it was already too late.
On Sunday we have the match away to Empoli, it will certainly not be easy because we are coming off a match where we had 80.000 fans supporting us at San Siro, but we have the duty to prepare it well, especially mentally."

MILAN-ARSENAL: CALLED UP ROSSONERI

Here are the 21 players called up by Carlo Ancelotti for tomorrow's match against Arsenal:
GOALKEEPERS: Kalac, Fiori, Offredi
DEFENDERS: Bonera, Favalli, Kaladze, Maldini, Nesta, Oddo, Simic
MIDFIELDERS: Ambrosini, Gattuso, Emerson, Gourcuff, Pirlo, Seedorf
STRIKERS: Gilardino, Inzaghi, Paloschi, Pato, Kakà.

Milan's Seedorf doubtful for Arsenal clash

AC Milan's Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf is a doubt for Tuesday's Champions League clash at home to Arsenal after suffering a leg muscle strain in the 1-1 draw with Lazio in Serie A on Saturday.
"We'll see over the next few days, but I think it will be difficult to have him back for Tuesday," Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti told Sky television.
Seedorf pulled up after 34 minutes at the San Siro.
Ancelotti said the European champions were suffering fatigue after their fourth league draw in five games.
"We're tired but so are all the other teams, even in Europe," he said. "I don't see teams producing spectacular soccer".
Milan host Arsenal after the first leg of the last 16 tie ended goalless at The Emirates stadium.

MILAN - LAZIO photos

KAKA in MILAN For the rest of his carier

His was a life choice. An important signature which represents the will of the man and the champion Kaká to remain a rossonero, to become with every day more and more a symbol and flag of this club. The Brazilian revealed his emotions in a long interview to Milan Channel.

'I remember that a year ago Milan Channel also asked me if I wanted to stay at Milan for life. In that circumstance I did not yet have the right confidence but today I do. Now I can say it and I want to. I want to stay a Rossonero for the rest of my career, I want to stay here for life. I remember the last two summers well, full of pressures, 'Ricky goes, Ricky stays'. My renewals have always come at difficult times, like it happened in the summer of 2006 during 'calciopoli'. That's why I did not give the answer I am able to give now before. I apologize for that, but I simply did not feel like I was ready to make such a commitment. But everything is different now, and I can say it without dboubt and a lot of joy.'

'This renewal charges me up, I think about the future and I know I will stay here, forever in this winning team which always starts with the aim to win. For a player that's a good feeling. I never take decisions alone, I talked with my family, my wife Caroline. She told me: 'Ricky, if I could I would sign too.' She's happy with this decision, to remain in Milan and in this club. Milan are always special in the way they treat us.'

'This is my fifth season at Milan, I want to become a symbol, a flag, and one day a captain of this club, with respect for the hierarchies. That day will come, substituting Paolo Maldini will be a great responsibility but before me there are other players and I respect that.

'In a few months I will become a father (Ricky revealed to a subscriber that he will have a son). Caroline and I are awaiting the moment, living everything with great emotion. Every day she feels something special, something new. I stay close to her, I accompany her to each exam, it's a good feeling to know that soon we will have our first son.'

'This fourth signature of mine is a life choice. Galliani knows it, I've told him yesterday as well. What I experienced here has always been intense. I've seen players leave, not just Sheva, who then always told me to evaluate my choices carefully because Milan are different, Milan live of feelings, affection, and this for me is a special value. I am happy to live my career here.'

'I think about when I will be 31 (in 2013), I imagine I will still be in good form. Besides, in this club I only have great examples in front of me which I will try to follow. The first great model of my life was Rogerio Ceni who spent his entire career at San Paolo. Here the example is Maldini. I want to be like them. Reaching Paolo won't be easy, but I will try to come as close as possible to the great targets and statistics which regard him. Scoring many goals, winning a lot. Those are my objectives. I want to enter the history books of this club.'

'If you ask me today who is the best Italian player, I say without a doubt Andrea Pirlo. For the way he behaves on the pitch, for how he plays, he is very important for us. I always feel the difference between when he's on the pitch and when he isn't. When we play I always ask the defenders to give the ball to him, every ball goes through him, he's intelligent, he's a player who's always there in important moments. He'll be there on Tuesday. It will be tough also for him, he's playing a lot and there is some tiredness but on Tuesday he will be ready and for us it will mean a lot.'

'I feel better, yesterday I tried to run and it went well. For tomorrow I am not available, but I'm very confident I will be there on Tuesday.
This hasn't been a good period for me, physically I haven't been doing too well over the last month. The knee, the knock the other day... Physically I'm not at my best. But this week I've had the chance to work a lot, also physically. That was useful for me. I work hard to get in good form on Tuesday and do everything that people expect from me. Against Arsenal it will be a special match, I imagine a sold out San Siro, I remember Milan-Celtic of last year. In the end that turned out to be an unforgettable match, let's hope it will be the same way on Tuesday.'

Draw 1-1 (Milan vs Catania)

At the Stadio 'Massimino' of Catania, Catania-Milan finished 1-1. The Rossoneri went in front in the 55th minute through Pato. Spinesi equalised for the Sicilians in the 64th minute.

HUNTING DOWN KAKA

The initial "score" of the last two league games on Ricardo Kaka? Here you go. Parma-Milan, first half: in the 7th minute a foul by Morrone from behind, in the 17th minute a foul by Dessena on the edge of the penalty area, in the 20th minute a foul by Morrone. These last in particular is the model of the Kaka-method. The “targeted” player did a bad slide tackle on the player’s foot, risking everything: leg, or ankle, it doesn’t matter, on him you have to risk.

It’s not over. Milan-Palermo, first half: after 1 minute and 43 seconds a bad foul by Guana, from behind, exactly on the knee which is hurting Kaka. In the 22nd minute a foul by Migliaccio in midfield, not even whistled by the referee. In the 29th minute a foul by Bresciano, from behind, on Kaka who was launched towards the penalty area, with Ricky, who full of knocks and pain, has a reaction towards the referee.

Amongst these two games, London, where the loyalty in the Champions League and the sports culture are higher. What really hits us in the Italian league, is not just the numerous number of fouls on Kaka, on which the referees of our league overlook, but the scientific factor. It’s never the same player to make these fouls. There is an alteration between one player and another. As if it was a strategy. Almost the sign of a preparation. And here evidently the referees have no fault at all.

The hammering which Kaka is suffering is the same which had mined the physique and resistance of Marco Van Basten. The Dutch star played his last game at the highest level at 28 years of age. It was November 1992 against Gothenborg at San Siro. Then here never came back. No! It must not happen for Kaka too. There is no post-Golden Ball crisis and there is no world class player playing badly. We are simply facing a player who is hunted, who has to stop for 15-20 days to manage his problems, then evidently does not return on the pitch at his best.

The reality is that whereas the Milan opponents take turns in fouling Kaka, and the first minutes foul does not receive any sanction, it is becoming a custom of most Italian teams towards Kaka. The Rossoneri’s team are therefore risking an important part of the season against Arsenal. In the Kaka will recover, he will prepare himself and he will do his best to be in front of 80,000 fans at San Siro. Until the next foul, or the ‘ordinary administration’ of the Italian referees. So in the end, until when?

from acmilan.com

ancelotti : WE NEED MORE QUALITY

These are the first words of Carlo Ancelotti during the press conference on the eve of Milan-Palermo: “I think that only Nesta is unavailable, all the others are available. Pato is available, Dida I don’t think so. I don’t give indications on the formation. The last games? On Wednesday we have proven to have a great defensive solidity and a difficulty in proposing important attacking solutions. Our period is tied to a great solidity in defence, whereas we must improve, starting from tomorrow's game. Tomorrow it will be a game with the same features of the previous games. Palermo has a squad of better quality in the construction of the game, we must have more efficiency upfront and push more even with the full-backs. We need to send clean balls upfront and a lot will depend on the quality of the midfielders in the construction of the game. Titles on Lippi? They don’t weight, we're used to them. The difference between ten and eleven men? It’s the truth, Inter lost a player after half an hour. Inter played their game in ten, we played ours in eleven. It’s not a problem.”

The other topics the Rossoneri’s coach spoke about: “I did not speak to Ronaldo yesterday, I did so in the previous days. The idea that I came up with is that he has not yet taken the right road, he is still uncertain on his future, but he will take the right road. Now he must remain calm, he cannot do anything as he has the foot blocked for at least 30 days. We will see in future if he will put in the right will to recover. I say that he has a great opportunity, in the bad luck. He has always been considered a bit lazy, maybe this is the right time to deny everyone and everything, maybe even himself. The league and the Champions League for us are two difficult situations. We are halfway down the ford and to overtake it we will need to do something more in the quality of the game. In 15 days time the condition will be better, but the quality of the game must improve. Arsenal remains very strong and tough, we are fifty-fifty for the qualification. I expected Arsenal to be like this. For the moment it is going through, Milan did its best. Even though, on the aesthetic level, we could have done more. At times we try to search too much for the through ball, rather than the shot on goal. We have good shooters and we must take advantage of these solutions."

Carlo Ancelotti again: “Amauri is a player who has important characteristics; he could be amongst the players indicated for the Milan future even though I have no preference. The four players in attack? Who knows, maybe there could be a surprise…We need to have four attackers of high level, considering that Ronaldo will return in 2009. I put my hand in the fire that Gilardino will remain with us next year. Palermo has changed a lot in these years. In the first round we played the best game of the season and we came out defeated. Now there’s Guidolin who change the team’s tactics, if we did not win it was a coincidence. Kaka? Last year he was the top scorer of the Champions League, but his role is not that of a scorer. I think he will score more goals. Kalac? He’s improving, if he played on Wednesday he can play also tomorrow.”

from acmilan.com